Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Again, Senator Lambie, as I've already said, the primary responsibility for managing and controlling biosecurity outbreaks when they occur in Australia lies with state and territory governments. We do support them in that, and we're providing substantial funding to do so. So it's not a matter of me having a magic wand or me having a solution, it's about what the New South Wales government can do with our support. And we're working very closely with them to do so.

There may come a point in the future where it proves that varroa mite cannot be eradicated, but we're not at that point and we're doing everything we possibly can with the New South Wales government to eradicate it. That is absolutely our preference. As I said, as recently as today I confirmed with our department that that's our intention. Meetings are ongoing with the New South Wales government about what more we can do to adjust their program and adjust their plan to eradicate varroa mite, and that remains our intention.